You might call it an act of fate, divine destiny, if you will or you may simply call it dumb luck. I, for one, would prefer to assume the former to be the case. I remember the night well. I was out walking with my brother, Charles. It was a clear night and the moon shone brightly on the streets of London, brighter than normal, it seemed. Even the city’s lights could only do so much to dampen it’s brilliance. The streets were all but deserted at this hour, at least where we were. I must admit that there is something strangely calming about the silence of the night and the apparent dormancy of the buildings that densely line both sides of the streets. I suppose it is the overall emptiness that I find most relieving, especially after a particularly rough day. And what were we doing out so late? Why I suppose you could say that we were sulking; licking our wounds, if you will.
“I just don’t understand it,” my brother said, “We followed the schematics exactly as they were sent to us. Why does it keep failing on us?”
“I couldn’t tell you, Charles. Though I must say, as I have on several occasions, I do question the logic behind constructing an artificial ghost portal.” I knew that I was already hitting a nerve as I had promised to remain silent on this issue many times before, but I just couldn’t.
Charles pursed his lips and sighed heavily, “I understand that there are some risks involved but Mr. Fenton says that as long as we take the proper precautions, we should be fine.”
“And you can honestly take the man’s word for it? This is Fenton we’re talking about.” We do have our disagreements about the way we should do things but we do share a mutual interest. Our interest in the dead. I suppose you could say that we are ghost hunters, of sorts much like the Fentons. Or at least that is the role which we currently assume. Don’t get me wrong, we have always had an interest in the ghosts but until recently we have only relied on more...traditional means of establishing a connection with the other realm. Personally, if it were up to me, we would have kept it that way. But when patience grows thin, people get desperate.
“I am just saying that the man’s not perfect but he seems to know what he’s talking about.” Charles said.
“And I am just saying that the man’s an idiot.” I sternly replied.
“Call him what you will, Chester, but unlike us his efforts actually produce results.”
“A machine that ejects ghosts at random is not what I would call a favorable result. It’s not like the portal allows you to choose who you contact. We’re not just looking for any ghost, Charles. We have very precise objective that we are trying to meet.”
And just like that, yet another conversation was quickly escalating into a petty squabble over who was right. At this point we had stopped moving. Lucky for us nobody was out to see us like this.
“Well I certainly think it’s a damn sight better than running around the whole fucking country looking for ‘natural portals.’ It’s not like they behave any differently anyway, they are just as unpredictable if not more so.” Charles spoke sharply but was trying hard not to raise his voice, as was I.
“I hear what you are saying but that it not the only point that I have been trying to make. When will you understand that we can’t just…” Before I could finish my attention was diverted by a bright flash caught from the corner of my eye. We both grew silent and both held still.
“Did you see that too?” Whispered Charles.
“I did.” I said nervously,
“It appeared to have come from that alley across the street.”
“You don’t think someone would be over there taking pictures now do you?”
“I sure hope not.”
We weren’t exactly keen on random people taking pictures. It’s a bit rude to say the least, though it seemed to be happening a lot as of late. Not to us but to a lot of our acquaintances. Without another moment’s hesitation my brother and I marched across the street to confront the supposed photographer but got over to the alley, there was no one there. Damn, I thought, how irritating.
“That flash was awfully bright.” Said Charles, “Are certain it was a camera?”
“Well what else could it have been?”
And then, as though in response, we witnessed another flash of white light right there before us. One so bright that it nearly knocked us both off of our feet. And this time we were sure that it came from nowhere. And seconds later, we beheld another flash and another. Until finally we beheld one flash that did not dissipate but one that held steady. It expanded and grew brighter as though a bright star were forming right here in the alley. We had to shield our eyes, it was so bright. I could barely see at this point but it appeared that something dropped from the stellar phenomenon right before it disappeared. Leaving us both at awe.
“What the bloody hell was that thing?” Charles asked.
“I am not sure...but I think it dropped something.”
“It dropped something? What do you mean it dropped something. What in the bloody hell could that thing have possibly dropped?”
Despite the brightness of the moon our eyes still had to take a moment to readjust before we could see far ahead and when we could see clearly again, we both found that I was right. It appeared that a small girl was left behind by whatever that was. We approached in mute amazement, unsure of what to do. I will never forget her first appearance to us. She was lying on her back barely conscious. She was wearing a dark blue sleeveless gown. Her hair was also dark blue with black highlights. We would later discover that this was in fact her natural hair color but I’ll not get ahead of myself. I remember her looking to me and trying to speak. We both knelt down to her what she was saying. She could barely speak above a whisper. Only when I bent down close with my ear in her direction did I hear her words. I remember them well: “The nightmare...the nightmare...make it stop.” She spoke with what sounded like an American accent, though we doubted that that was where she was from. She passed out soon after saying those words leaving us to ponder carefully and believe me when I say, we were at a complete loss of what to or of what was even happening for that matter. For what felt like half an hour we stared in silence both of us trying to figure out what we ought to do next.
“Perhaps we should turn her over to the authorities or something.” Charles said, finally.
“And tell them what?”
Of course neither of us had an answer but as it would turn out, we would not need one at least not yet. I noticed something at the top of her upper arm. Initially it looked like a big black skin stain but when I turned her arm to get a better look I saw a crescent moon in the center of the black mark. “Charles,” I said, “look at this.” Charles was just as shocked as I was when he saw the mark on her arm. It was very similar to the symbol that we had seen in various tomes. In that moment, it all became clear. The light and the manner in which this girl appeared suddenly made perfect sense. I know that it would not make sense to anyone else but it certainly made sense to us which is why I believe this to have been a divine act of destiny.
“I don’t know where we go from here,” I said, “but I do know that our very first step is getting this girl off of the street and perhaps getting her some food.”
“Then what?”
“If she is what I think she is, then the answers will come in due time.” With that I lifted her up and proceeded home with Charles following close behind. As we came out of the alley I stopped and looked up at the moon. I took a moment to assess the situation one last time and sighed heavily at what I was about to say.
Without turning to face him, I said to Charles. “Tomorrow...perhaps we shall contact Fenton and ask him for further advice on our portal.”
I could not see the look on my brother’s face but I knew that he was surprised as I was to be hearing this from me. “Forgive me,” he said, “but why the sudden change of heart?”
“Because, as much as it pains me to admit it; perhaps you were right. We can never really know what this girl is without confirmation and it would best if obtained it sooner rather than later. And as of right now, it would seem that this artificial ghost portal is the only real means that we have.”
I knew that Charles was dying to rub my face in this but thankfully had a little more grace than that. He simply uttered a very calm, “very well then,” before we continued. I could almost feel the smirk on his face from behind me. With that we continued on, we didn’t know what the future held in store for us...for this. But as I said before, we would only know in due time.